By P.F. Wilson April 09, 2014

"I'm not against recycling, but there's a certain sense of inconvenience," says comedian Jim Gaffigan. "My wife might ask if I rinsed out a soda can. I'll be like, 'I haven't even showered today. I should probably clean myself up before I start washing the garbage.'" While that joke gets a laugh from the audience, Gaffigan's "inner voice" may feel compelled to comment on it out loud. "Oh, he doesn't understand the Kyoto agreement," he'll say in a soft voice, almost under his breath. Indeed, it's the "inner voice" that has seemingly made his already hilarious set that much funnier, and become a trademark of sorts for Gaffigan. It's something people zero in on when they talk to him about his set. "Initially, I used to always say that we all have voices in our heads that are saying things," explains the Indiana native. "People would be like, 'Well, not really.' But I think with most creative people there is this inner critic that is kind of with you when you're writing." Since making the leap from advertising to show business nearly two decades ago, Gaffigan has become one of the biggest standup comedy draws in the country, regularly selling out theaters. After 20 years of doing standup, Gaffigan feels he's still growing. "After 10 years, I realized that I didn't want to rely on irreverence or cursing to get laughs. You get a lot of mileage out of a curse word with an audience, and it's not that I don't think dirty comics are funny, it's just that there are certain tricks you can do in the performance to get the audience on your side, whether it's acting or comedy, and I just try to weave those things in." What's odd about this is that he curses a lot in real life. "But when I hear someone do it onstage I'm like, 'Whoa! Settle down,... More >>>